Version 20
by garbygal
Summary: Michael and Birkhoff seek to secretly repeat Nikita's success with an agent undercover in Amanda's new organization. Will it work?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Michael walked slowly into Birkhoff's office, carefully checking behind him to make sure no one had followed him. "Hey Birkhoff, how's it going?" he rushed over to the tech working on his computers.

"It's going." Birkhoff turned to greet Michael, "The package is in place but we are waiting for pick up."

Rolling his eyes Michael walked up behind Birkhoff's chair resting his hands on it as he watched Birkhoff's screens. "I still can't believe we're doing this." Michael commented.

"It worked for Nikita," Birkhoff casually replied, taking a sip of his energy drink.

"I still can't believe she took such a chance with someone's life." Michael ran his hand nervously through his hair. "Or much less that we are doing it."

"We have to do something." Birkhoff reminded him, "We can't keep letting Amanda win."

Michael let out a breath. He knew this was necessary and even more so he knew this was the best way to accomplish what they needed, but he still couldn't help but worry about her. Her training had gone smoothly, but Michael didn't want to chance losing her. Sensing something was on his mind, Birkhoff looked at Michael and said, "She will be fine. We trained her, rescued her did everything she could possibly need."

"I just don't like sending someone into possible danger. I never have." Michael returned Birkhoff's concern.

"No one does, but this is our best shot. Our own Nikita."

Michael nodded, knowing Birkhoff was right. "Can we check in with her?"

Glaring at Michael, Birkhoff replied, "No. She can't have anything on her when she gets to Amanda."

"How do we know Amanda will take her?"

Birkhoff grimaced at Michael. "Dude, chill. We're done our research. We've spent a year undercover, planning in secret. This will work."

The door opened and Birkhoff hit a key combination to hide all the information they had been looking at on his computer. "Hey Nerd." Nikita sauntered into the room, not suspecting a thing. "I was going to see if you knew where Michael was but obviously you do."

"Hey." Michael greeted her with a smile and a peck on the cheek.

"What are you guys working on?" Nikita tried to identify what was up on Birkhoff's screens.

"Just trying to find signs of Amanda." Birkhoff replied while shooting Michael a warning glare.

"Hey Nikita why don't we go see if there is anything Ryan wants us to do in Ops?" Michael had seen Birkhoff's glare- Nikita was about to start asking questions.

"Sure." Nikita smiled. "Bye Nerd."

Michael and Nikita left. Leaning back in his chair and folding his arms in his chest, Birkhoff commented, "We're never going to pull this off."

Kirsten walked slowly down the streets of Liverpool, England. It wasn't a very big city, just a very famous one. Either way, once her training was complete it was where Birkhoff and Michael told her she could find Amanda, her target. As she made her way towards the coffee shop where she had set up the meeting, she ran over all the details in her head. She knew she could not make a mistake,, she could not blow her cover or she would destroy Division's goals and possibly end her own life.

The coffee shop was just a little mom and pop place on one end of town. They only had a small storefront with a few tables for people to enjoy their coffee at. It was a little warm,, so Kirsten took off her jacket as she headed to the counter. The little old lady was anxious to help her, so it wasn't long before Kirsten found herself at a back table waiting for Amanda.

Kirsten had never met Amanda before. The only way she knew her was through Michael and Birkhoff and the pictures they had showed her. As soon as she entered the coffee shop, Kirsten immediately recognized her. The woman looked a little more beat down from the pictures she had saw from when she was in charge of Division. Nevertheless she was still all business as she approached Kirsten. "Are you Kirsten?" Amanda asked her.

Kirsten gave her a small nod. She had to act very professional to earn the job this much she knew. Amanda sat down across from her as Kirsten didn't say a word,, sipping on her coffee. "Nice to meet you Kirsten. I'm Amanda. You saw my ad?"

Michael and Birkhoff had come across the code ad that Amanda had placed looking for help. They had decided this was the best way to get Kirsten into place. "Yes." Kirsten replied , "I've been looking for word."

"Where did you get your start?"

Kirsten was young, that much Michael and Birkhoff had anticipated,, so they had worked hard to create a realistic history for her. "I started out as a cop when I was 20. While I was in college and the academy, the FBI was actively recruited me. I worked in the FBI from 21-26 and now, I've been working freelance for the last year."

"You're 27 now?" Amanda asked.

Nodding confirmation Kirsten replied, "I know I am young, but I am experienced."

Amanda laughed. "I wasn't questioning it. What office did you work in?"

"Chicago." She replied. "It wasn't home but it was where the opening was."

"You do what you have to." Amanda replied, crossing her legs. "Do you have arms experience."

"Extensive."

"Explosives?"

"I studied them extensively."

"Hand-to-hand?"

"Krah Maga."

Amanda nodded her head in approval.. "And you can start right away?"

"Of course." Kirsten replied.

Getting up without a word, Kirsten knew it was implied she should follow. Amanda headed out of the shop to a black car. Climbing into the backseat, Kirsten followed Amanda in. They drove in silence for about fifteen minutes, ending up at a small farm part-way out of town. When the car stopped, Amanda suddenly announced, here we are. This is our hideout."

Surveying the location Kirsten was a little worried. The farm house looked very warn down and it made Kirsten curious what her arrangement would be like. Amanda led Kirsten into the house and one step in Kirsten was completely confused. The house was completely empty. Not only was there no furniture, no decorations but there were no walls or doors either- just four exterior walls and a staircase leading into what Kirsten immediately figured was the basement. It would not be too long before she found out- Amanda was heading right for the stairs.

They headed down the stairs into a basement. The basement was also empty and Kirsten began to panic. Had Amanda figured out what Kirsten was up to? Was she going to kill her? Kirsten watched as Amanda went to the far side of the room, beginning to push on specific spots on the floor and wall. I felt like a sci fi move as the floor finally popped open a spring door. Looking down it, Kirsten saw more stairs leading down. It was starting to remind Kirsten of how Michael and Seymour had described Division.

As they walked down those stairs, Kirsten looked around. They had walked into a foyer type area. Amanda pressed her finger to a plate that read her fingerprint, then closed the door behind them. "We can't be too safe." She finally addressed Kirsten. "We've been working on this place for a year now and we are just finishing construction. Here we'll be safe, our enemies won't be able to track us here and even if somehow they do, it looks like an abandoned, falling down farmhouse."

"Clever." Kirsten replied.

"We thought so." Amanda smiled in reply.

Using another finger keypad, a door on the north side of the room opened and Kirsten followed Amanda through. "I'll give you the tour." Amanda told her as they headed down a narrow hallway.

Kirsten hid a giggle as she pondered how the metal and white walls made her feel like she was on Princess Leia's ship in Star Wars. The hallway finally opened up into a large room full of computers. There were a couple of people working, looking like they were running surveillance. "Down that hallway," Amanda pointed to one of two hallways on the right side of the room, the one closer to them, "leads to the bedroom quarters. I'll get you set up a little later. The farther hallway on that wall," Amanda gestured to the hallway, "Leads to the common rooms- a cafeteria, the gym, those kinds of things. The hallway on the left," She gestured across the room "Is the offices. If you become a higher level, you may get an office."

"Okay." Kirsten acknowledged what Amanda had told her as Amanda led her towards the bedrooms.

"We'll get you all set up, then tomorrow we'll get you started."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kirsten woke up the next morning in her somewhat comfortable bed in Amanda's new facility. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was. She had been working with Birkhoff and Michael for so long it took her a minute to recall her change in location. Sitting up in the bed, she reminded herself of her goals. Today she had to get information from Amanda about the new organization to pass back to Michael and Birkhoff. She would also have to contact them to make sure she could and to let them know she was in place.

After she took a shower and changed, she grabbed her tablet and headed back towards the main operational center. She was surprised not to find Amanda there, but remembered where Amanda had pointed out the offices. Kirsten headed in that direction. The first door was labeled as Amanda's so Kirsten gently knocked. "Come in." Amanda's voice called quietly.

Opening the door, Kirsten was surprised as she walked into Amanda's office. The room was dressed up like a formal sitting room. The room was painted off-white, fancy paintings on the wall. There was very expensive looking furniture- a couch and two chairs, a coffee table and a side table between the chairs. Amanda sat on the side of the room at a vanity much fancier than Kirsten had ever seen before, checking her make-up and jewelry. "Kirsten- good morning." Amanda greeted her with a smile. "Have a seat." Amanda gestured to the couch as she walked towards the chairs herself.

After both women were seated, Kirsten put her tablet on the coffee table between Amanda and her. "This is my tablet. Do you want to check it to make sure I can't do anything I'm not supposed to?"

Amanda took the tablet and tapped a few buttons to check on the settings and capabilities of the tablet. Then she used a scanner to make sure there was no tracker in it and no bug. When she was satisfied, she handed it back to Kirsten. "Thank you for being so forward." Amanda told her.

Smiling and putting the tablet back on her lap, Kirsten then asked, "So what kind of things am I going to be doing for you?"

Amanda crossed her legs. "I'm not sure exactly yet. I think it is very likely you may become my second in command and that would somewhat change your responsibilities. Mostly we will be doing missions to earn operational funds. As things go well, we will add more recruits to train to do our missions."

"We'll have more recruits? Kirsten questioned.

"Some. The younger people who want to help but don't have the experience." Amanda replied, "But for now, to start, we'll just have experiences spies."

Kirsten nodded. It made sense- in their line of work they would have to replace their loses which would best be done through young recruits. "So how is this all going to start?" Kirsten was curious what their official start scenario would be."

"We are currently at 35 agents and we are aiming for fifty before we start running missions. We're hoping to get to 200-250agents when running at full capacity."

"Are the agents volunteers?" Kirsten took notes on her tablet to report back.

"Yes. Depending on experience, seniority and those kind of things, they'll make between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. To give you an idea of the calculations, I would pay you about $90,000 a year to start with your experience."

Kirsten nodded along. It was a good plan to start people off with this organization. Kirsten was glad to hear that it wouldn't be like Michael and Birkhoff had described Division where the recruits were anything but volunteers. It was one of the real negatives in Division's set up. "That sounds good." Kirsten confirmed.

"I'm glad you think so. I want to see you in action, but I definitely think that you could potentially be my number two- so please keep that in mind."

Kirsten nodded. If she was Amanda's second-in-command, it would make it very easy to get Michael and Birkhoff the information they were looking for. Kirsten was realistic though- she knew she couldn't count her eggs before they hatched. It was a nice thought but she still would have to earn it- and without blowing her cover. "So how do you keep people in line? Keep them from just leaving or spilling your secrets?" Kirsten saw that being the major issue with not following Division's style.

Amanda just smiled. Obviously she had thought everything through well to make sure she covered all her bases. "To be paid they get no money until their year of service is up. Then they can roll it continuing until they leave. If they break their contract in any way, they lose the money- potentially all of it- if what they do is really bad."

It made sense to Kirsten. From what Michael and Birkhoff had told her, Division provided for their agents while they were in Division, so it wouldn't really matter if they got their money right away- they wouldn't need it. That way they didn't get paid until they successfully accomplished their contract and if they re-enlisted, they only made more money- and had more money to lose if they made a mistake. It was ingenious really. "Makes a lot of sense. No one can just leave you and they have incentive not to give you away- my only worry would be are you having any trouble with recruitment?"

Amanda shook her head. "Not really. It weeds out the people without the right goals at hear, makes sure people don't betray us and encourages them to stay with us longer to make more money."

Kirsten had to admit that Amanda seemed to have everything planned for and it definitely scared her. She was so prepared it was hard to imagine that Amanda wouldn't have something in place for a secret agent- especially after Alex- what they had modeled her after. Kirsten knew she was going to have to be real careful and make sure that she wasn't discovered and didn't give herself up.

After a little while talking with Amanda, she finally excused herself and headed back to her room. Using the scanner the Birkhoff had hidden in her tablet she made sure there were no bugs in the room, no cameras to show what she was doing, Kirsten then settled on the bed. Setting up the tablet the way Birkhoff had shown her to, carefully punched in her identification and password in then waited to see if Birkhoff would reply.

Birkhoff was searching for the Dirty Thirty when the pop up Kirsten came up. "Hey Mikey." He called over the headset, "Can I see you in my office?"

"What for?" Michael replied.

Birkhoff rolled his eyes. They're running a secret op and Michael starts asking questions. Thinking for a minute, he finally replied, "I have a couple of things of the mission I need you to look over."

"Okay…I'll be right there." Birkhoff could hear the irritation in Michael's voice. "Geez Michal, open your eyes."

Rolling his chair up to the screen where Kirsten's chat was open.

xx01: Anybody home?

With a smile, Birkhoff typed:

xx02: Hey. M's coming

Kirsten pulled the tablet up to her chest to wait. They had decided early on not to use full names, just in case, so she knew when Birkhoff mentioned "M" that he meant Michael. A couple of minutes had passed before her tablet beeped.

xx02: What have you heard?

It had only taken Michael a couple minutes to get to Birkhoff's office. "What are you being so cryptic about?" Michael immediately asked.

Giving him a "duh" look, Birkhoff pointed to the screen and quietly said, "Our secret mission? Remember that?"

The look on Michael's face was priceless. He must have clearly been having a bad day that he completely had forgotten about their mission. "Oh! I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my plate." Michael explained.

Another message popped up from Kirsten.

xx01: Glad you didn't ask if I was okay or if I got in okay.

Both Birkhoff and Michael chuckled, glad that Kirsten was keeping her sense of humor.

xx02: You're in okay?

xx01: Yes. Talked with Amanda.

"That was fast." Michael acknowledged. "Ask her what she found out."

Birkhoff leaned over the keyboard and typed:

xx02: What have you heard?

xx01: Missions for money. Recruits by choice. Paid only after fulfilling contract.  
More money the longer you stay.

Everything Birkhoff and Michael read made sense. They were going to be in a lot of trouble if Amanda got a place like this up and running. He hoped they could keep Kirsten successfully in place show she would be able to give them the information to sabotage her missions before she could build up any money.

xx02: Any missions?

xx01: No. Still trying to gather resources.

Birkhoff looked back at Michael. "Anything else you want to ask her?"

Getting in closer to the screen, Michael read over what Kirsten had been telling them. She wasn't giving them a lot of information, but that was just to get them the most information as quickly as possible without getting caught. "No. Just tell her to report back if she hears anything."

xx02: Report back when you have more.

xx01: 10'4

"I hope this works." Birkhoff  
commented to Michael as he closed the chat.

"It will." Michael looked at Birkhoff. "We just have to make sure we take Amanda down and keep Kirsten safe."

"Well, so far so good." Birkhoff commented.


End file.
